Introducing Automator

Introducing Automator

7.1. Introducing Automator Automator, like most programs on your Mac, sits waiting in your Applications folder. Double-click Automator's icon to open it for the first time (Figure 7-2). Figure 7-2. Automator's icon is a computer generated robot image named Otto. (Get it? Otto Matic? Stop, you're killing us!) The icon is supposed to evoke an image of Automator as a servile program, executing your every desire without question. Any similarity to the malevolent androids of I, Robot is purely coincidental.
7.1.1. Navigating the Screen As shown in Figure 7-3, Automator looks confusing. But once you learn what the different sections do,...

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7.1. Introducing Automator
Automator, like most programs on your Mac, sits waiting in your Applications folder.
Double-click Automator's icon to open it for the first time (Figure 7-2).
Figure 7-2. Automator's icon is a computer generated robot image named Otto. (Get
it? Otto Matic? Stop, you're killing us!) The icon is supposed to evoke an image of
Automator as a servile program, executing your every desire without question. Any
similarity to the malevolent androids of I, Robot is purely coincidental.
7.1.1. Navigating the Screen
As shown in Figure 7-3, Automator looks confusing. But once you learn what the
different sections do, the layout makes a lot of sense. Here's a run-down of Automator's
various parts.
7.1.1.1. Starting Points menu
When you first launch Automator, you're greeted with a new, ultra-simple Starting Points
menu. It's an easy launching pad for certain kinds of common workflows— those that
work with Files & Folders, Music & Audio, Photos & Images, or Text.
Figure 7-3. In many ways, Automator's interface resembles that of iTunes; the
unified theme, the Play button, and even the Library list are all here. The process of
working in Automator always flows from left to right. Click the type of data you
want to control (Library list), find what you want it to do (Actions list), and drag it
into the Workflow pane to build the list of steps you want your software robot to
take.
When you click the appropriate icon, make selections from the two pop-up menus
beneath it, and click Choose, Automator sets up the beginning of your workflow
automatically. Your workflow isn't complete, not by a long shot; all you've done so far is

to say, "Work with this kind of file, and specify which ones. "You still have to say what
you want done with those files.
Still, you've gotten started.
Of course, if you're a workflow wiz and don't want a jump-start on your project because
you're just that good, selecting Custom gives you a clean, action-free document to work
with. But even if you are an automating expert, the Starting Points menu is almost always
useful. It still saves you those few extra clicks—selecting your base actions, dragging
them to the Workflow pane, setting their preferences, and so on— necessary to get your
workflow started.
Besides, you don't have to tell anyone you used it.
Tip: You can disable the Starting Points menu entirely by clicking Automator
Disable Starting Points.
7.1.1.2. Toolbar
At the top of the Automator window, the toolbar offers five fairly self-explanatory
buttons. From left to right (Figure 7-3):
• Hide Library.This button hides the entire left Library pane of Automator, where all
of the prefab building-block steps are listed. You wind up with one big Workflow
pane.
• Media. Click to open the standard Media Browser box that pops up all over Mac
OSX. You can drag your music, photos, or movies from the Media Browser
directly into the Workflow pane, or into an action itself (one with a matching data
type, of course), to use that media in your workflow.
Tip: Media from the Media Browser isn't all you can add to Automator. You can
also drag files—text documents, media, folders, and so on—straight from the
Finder into your workflow, saving you the hassle of having to search for them in
Automator.
• Record. Click to enter Watch Me mode, where Automator memorizes the steps
that you perform manually (Section 7.3.2).

• Workflow control. Run and Stop "play back" and stop the workflow you're
building.
Tip: To save screen space, you can hide the entire Automator toolbar by choosing View
Toolbar, or by clicking the capsule-shaped button in the upper-right corner of the
window. (You can bring the toolbar back by choosing View Show Toolbar or
clicking the pill button again.)While the toolbar is hidden (and even when it's visible),
you can still start and stop playback by choosing Workflow Run ( -R) and
Workflow Stop ( -period).
7.1.1.3. Library pane
The Library pane is the entire left section of the Automator window. It includes the
Search box, Library list, Description field, and the list of Actions or Variables list. All of
these are described below.
Tip: You can resize either of Automator's left-side columns (Library and Actions) by
carefully dragging the vertical divider lines between them.
7.1.1.4. Search box
Like Mac OSX's other Search boxes, this one works in real time — it displays matching
actions or variables as you type.
If you start by selecting a folder in the Library list at the left, you're telling Automator,
"Search only within this folder of actions or variables. " If you want to search for actions
that can process files in the Finder, for example, click Files & Folders in the Library list,
and then type file in the Search box.
Tip: You can -click to select several folders and then search all of them
simultaneously.Or, to search all of Automator's folders, click Library at the top of the
Library list before searching. (That's the best way to find an action or variable if you're
not sure what folder it's in.)

Your search results appear in the Actions/Variables list, ranked by relevance to your
search terms. You can begin dragging actions directly into the Workflow pane at the right
side to build a workflow, as described shortly.
Click the button in the Search box to return to the complete list of actions or
variables.
7.1.1.5. Library
Above the Library list, two buttons appear that govern what's displayed in the Library
pane:
• Actions. When you click Actions, the Library lists all the features and data on your
Mac that Automator actions can control: Files & Folders, Music, Photos, Text, and
so on. When you click a folder, the Actions list on the right shows you every
action related to that type of data. For example, when you click Photos in the left-
side list, the right-side list of actions offers steps like Flip Images, Crop Images,
and so on.
• When you find an action you want to use in your workflow, you drag it to the right
into the large Workflow pane.
• Variables.New to Automator in Leopard, variables are memorized info chunks that
you can reuse in an Automator workflow, exactly as in real programming
languages. The Variables list is divided into categories like Date & Time (today's
date, today's month, etc.), Locations (the paths to various folders on your Mac),
User (your name, phone number, etc.), and so on.
To see all the available Automator actions or variables on your Mac, click Library
in the Library list.
Later in this chapter, you'll see how it's useful to incorporate these information
tidbits into your workflows.
Note: Variables whose icons look like a boxed V are variables that you can change. For
example, you can change the formatting of the "Current time" variable by double-clicking
it.Variables with icons are predefined and unchangeable.
7.1.1.6. Description field
When you click an action or variable in the list, the Description box provides some terse,
superficial information on how to use it. You might see what the action does, what kind

of data it expects to receive from the previous action (input), and what the action sends
on to the following action (result).
If the variable is editable (it has a V icon), you get to see what parts of it you can change.
Tip: To save space, you can hide the Description field by clicking the button on the
bottom edge of the window. Click it again to bring the Description field back.
7.1.1.7. The button
The button in the lower-left corner of the window is a pop-up menu. Its four
commands let you create and delete customizable collections called groups and smart
groups. They behave exactly like playlists and smart playlists in iTunes:
• Groups. Groups are customizable folders you add to the Library list. To add an
action or variable to a group, drag it from the list onto the Group folder.
• SmartGroups. Smart groups, new in Leopard, are constantly updated with actions
that match the criteria you set for that smart group. (They're available only for
actions, not variables.)
For example, you can create a smart group that lists only actions that work with
iPhoto, or actions with Input Types that contain the word "image." Add more
criteria by clicking the + button.
Tip: Automator's Library list comes with three factory-installed smart groups: Most
Relevant, which displays all the actions relevant to the action you have selected in the
Workflow pane; Most Used, which displays the actions you've used the most in your
workflows; and Recently Added, which displays actions added by newly installed
applications, for example, or actions you downloaded and added yourself.
7.1.1.8. Workflow pane
The Workflow pane is Automator's kitchen. It's where you put your actions in whatever
order you want, set any action-specific preferences, and fry them all up in a pan.
But the Workflow pane is also where you see how the information from one action gets
piped into another, creating a stream of information. That's how the Workflow pane

differentiates Automator from the dozens of non-visual, programming-based automation
tools out there. Figure 7-4 shows what a piece of a workflow might look like in the
Workflow pane.
When you drag an action out of the Actions list into the Workflow pane, any surrounding
actions scoot aside to make room.
Tip: If you double-click an action in the Actions list, Automator inserts it at the bottom of
the Workflow pane. (Pressing Enter when an action is highlighted does the same thing.)
7.1.1.9. Log viewer
Under the Workflow pane on the left are two tiny buttons, identified in Figure 7-3. They
hide and show two useful pop-up panels that contain logs (mini-reports):
• The Workflow log shows the results of your workflow: which actions ran
successfully, which failed (if any), what each action did, and so on. See Section
7.3.
• The Variables log (Figure 7-5) shows all the variables used in your workflow.
When you run the workflow, the Value list shows you what information was
stored in each variable after the workflow finishes.
Tip: You can also hide or show the logs using the relevant commands in the View menu.
Option- -L hides or shows the Workflow log. (Unfortunately, the Variables log isn't
blessed with a keyboard shortcut.)
Figure 7-4. Anatomy of an Automator action. You can drag the action by its title
bar to move it to an earlier or later position in your workflow.
Figure 7-5. The Variables log shows you all the variables you're using in your
workflow. The light blue variables are editable; double-click one to modify the
variable's name and its settings (in this case, the format for "Today's date").

7.1.2. Opening Existing Workflows
Automator comes with three prebuilt workflows that show off Automator's capabilities.
Find them by clicking Help Open Examples Folder; open one of these workflows for
inspection by double-clicking it.
Tip: In Leopard, you don't actually have to open an Automator document to see how it's
set up. Simply select a workflow in the Finder and hit Space bar to activate Quick Look
(Section 1.8), which gives you a preview of the entire workflow—actions and all.Note,
though, that this only works with workflows saved in Leopard's Automator. Since
Apple's own example workflows were created in the older 10.4 version, QuickLook won't
properly display them until they're resaved in Leopard.
To many people's surprise, the included workflows are quite useful:
• Copy Unread Mail to iPod Notes copies any new Mail messages into your iPod's
text-notes folder. Later, when you're on the train to work, you can pull out your
iPod and read whatever mail you didn't get to at home.
• Import .Mac Photo Album into iPhoto works only if you have a .Mac account
(Section 18.6). It slurps the photos from a photo album you've previously posted
on your .Mac site (say, while you were on vacation) and copies them into iPhoto.
From there, you can view a full-screen slideshow of the images, or even edit them
and post them back onto your .Mac site.
• Process Images applies the same extreme Photo Booth-like special visual effect to
whatever photos you specify in the workflow. No, people haven't exactly been
clamoring for an automated way to create mirror-image camera shots, but this
workflow does show you the basics of batch-processing photos. You can use it as
a template for building your own "Convert to JPEG" or "Scale to 640 x 480
pixels" workflow, for example.
Tip: Apple provides two great Automator examples at their Automator Web site,
www.automator.us. "Welcome to the Party!" for example, cleverly demos two new
features of Automator—variables and the Loop action—by showing you how to create a
workflow that takes photos of your friends and turns them into a cool, party-ready screen
saver.

7.1.3. Editing a Workflow
Before you build your own workflows, it's a good idea to understand how actions work
together to process information. Here's a guided tour of the Process Images workflow
described in the previous paragraphs (Figure 7-6), which will give you deeper insight into
building your own workflows.
1. Ask for Confirmation.
This common action, available in the Utilities folder, produces a dialog box that
tells the innocent bystander what's about to happen (Figure 7-7). It's a good idea to
begin each of your own workflows with a box like this, to remind yourself (or
your minimum-wage minions) what the workflow actually does.
In this case, the message informs your audience that the workflow is about to open
a folder full of pictures, apply some wacko effects to them, and then open them up
in Preview to display the results.
Tip: If you want the dialog box to appear with a bright warning sign—to inform
you, for example, that you're about to erase your entire hard drive—click the robot
icon in the upper-left corner of the Ask for Confirmation action. Automator swaps
in a robot-with-yellow-triangle icon.Keep in mind, too, that the entire Ask for
Confirmation action is 100 percent customizable. Not only can you change the text
that appears in the dialog box—you can even change the names of the Cancel and
OK buttons.
Figure 7-6. The Process Images workflow consists of only five actions. (The
first action, which just displays an explanatory dialog box, shouldn't even
count.) Still, this simple action does in 10 seconds what would take most
humans at least 5 minutes: applying the same photo effect to several images.
2. 2. Get Specified Finder Items.
The next step in the Process Images workflow comes from the Files & Folders
folder. It lets you specify which files you want your workflow to operate on. You
can use the Add and Remove buttons to edit the list—to add your own images to

be mirrored, for example—or you can drag files straight from the Finder into this
list.
When this action is finished, it passes on a list of files and/or folders to the next
action, ready for further processing.
Note: This example workflow always operates on the same set of four files. But if
you were to substitute the Files & Folders Ask for Finder Items action instead,
Automator would prompt you for the files to process each time you ran the
workflow, which is a heck of a lot more useful than applying the same filter over
and over again to the same four images.Also, you'll notice that two of the images
in the list—"Ladybug on Leaf.jpg" and "Roses.jpg"—have blank document icons.
That's because those images were around in 10.4, which is why they're included in
the example—but Apple removed them from 10.5, and forgot to take them out of
the workflow for Leopard. So when you run the workflow, only two images, not
four, will be processed.
Figure 7-7. A dialog box created by the Ask for Confirmation action. Feel free
to edit the action with your own text; the stuff that Apple provides is pretty
dry.
3. Copy Finder Items.
This is a very important Files & Folders action: it makes a copy of the specified
files and folders (in this case, the ones you identified in Step 2) so you don't gum
up the originals. You can change where you want the copies stored by editing the
"To" pop-up menu in the action. The menu lists obvious locations like Pictures
and Desktop, or you can choose Other to select any folder you like.
Note: The "Replacing existing files" checkbox simply tells Automator that, if
there are old files in the Pictures folder with the same names as your new files,
you want to delete the old files automatically.

If you click Options in the action, you'll see that the "Show this action when the
workflow runs" checkbox is turned on. That means Automator asks where to store
the copies when you run the workflow, so that the destination can be different
each time. Otherwise, the files will automatically be copied to whatever folder you
select in the pop-up menu right now.
4. 4. Apply Quartz Composition Filter to Image Files.
This action (listed in the Photos folder) processes the newly duplicated images
from Step 3; in this case, it applies a mirror filter to them. The action then passes
the newly-mirrored images onto Step 5. If you prefer, you can choose a different
filter from the pop-up menu—to make the image look like a comic-book drawing,
for example, instead of applying the mirror filter.
Note: The Quartz Composition Filter, a piece of Mac OS X's Quartz display
technology, can modify images and photos in real time. Photo Booth uses this
technology, which is why many of Photo Booth's effects are also in the action's
Filter pop-up menu. (See http://developer.apple.com/graphicsimaging/quartz for
the incredibly nerdy details on Quartz.)
Since "Show this action when the workflow runs" under Options is turned on,
Automator will present this action to you when you run the workflow. That is,
you'll have the chance to choose a different filter each time this workflow runs.
(By the way, the image of the beach is intended to demonstrate the filter's effect;
it's not actually one of your photos.)
Tip: The big box on the right side of the action isn't there because Apple had
nothing to fill the space. Certain filters have settings you can modify, which
appear in that box. The Glow filter, for example, lets you specify how much glow
you want applied to the image(s).
5. Open Images in Preview.

This final action, which also comes from the Photos folder, takes the post-filter
images from Step 4 and opens them in Preview (Section 10.23). From there, you
can flip, resize, or resave the images.
Try running the workflow by clicking Run. The bottom of the Workflow pane tells you
which step of the workflow is running at the moment. As each action finishes, a green
check mark appears in its lower-left corner.
Note: If something goes wrong while your workflow is running (or if you click Cancel in
a dialog box), your workflow stops in its tracks. To identify the offending step, look for
the red X in an action's lower-left corner, or check the Log.
Unfortunately, if your workflow shuts down in the middle, you can't restart it from there.
When you click Run the next time, the workflow plays from the beginning.